Minnesota Twins 3 Up, 3 Down: Mitch Garver continues to stay hot

The Minnesota Twins had a great week on their home stand and retired the number of a legend, but defensive woes could be a concern moving forward.

As far as home stands go, the Minnesota Twins are having a great one through six games. As part of their longest home stand of the season, the Twins retired the No. 7 jersey of Joe Mauer and took two-of-three games from the Seattle Mariners and the Kansas City Royals,

On the field, things continue to look great for the Twins. For the most part, Minnesota has gotten the clutch hit when they’ve needed it and the starting pitching continues to hold its own even if a starter or two has seen a bump in the road from a scorching start.

While there are concerns that could come back to bite the Twins later, life is good for now. After Sunday’s loss to the Royals, the Twins still own a ten-game lead in the American League Central and will look to extend that lead with another divisional series coming this weekend against the Royals in Kansas City.

The Twins are far from a finished product, but for now, it’s best for everyone to just sit back and enjoy the ride as they make the push to the All-Star break.

UP: Joe Mauer

Any mention of this week for the Twins would go for not if it didn’t include a mention of Mauer. The Twins catcher became the eighth player in franchise history to have his number retired in a Saturday night ceremony joining Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Tom Kelly, Kent Hrbek, Bert Blyleven, Rod Carew and Kirby Puckett.

Mauer’s career is somewhat of an enigma for Twins fans due to a feeling he didn’t live up to his massive contract and the Twins saw limited playoff success despite winning four division titles during his 15-year career. However, Mauer also saw individual success during his time with the Twins winning three American League batting titles, three Gold Gloves, five Silver Slugger awards and making six All-Star appearances.

On top of that, he was a genuinely liked guy who seemed to do good things off the field and kept his nose out of trouble. While some of his recent numbers may have been put out of context with what a first baseman should deliver, Mauer’s overall resume is something that should have him on the doorstep of Cooperstown.

DOWN: Blake Parker

Through the first couple months of the season, the Twins bullpen didn’t look too bad. Despite not having an official closer, the Twins were getting by using a closer by committee scenario that was spearheaded by Taylor Rogers and Blake Parker.

Rogers had a small bump in the road last week and had to rest an aching back early this week, but seems to be OK moving forward. In the case of Parker, however, things are trending in the wrong direction.

After starting the year with a 0.96 ERA between March and April, Parker’s ERA went up to 3.00 in May before completely going off the rails with a 12.60 ERA in June. What’s even more dangerous about Parker at this moment is that damage is being done at an absurd rate with opposing hitters compiling a .722 slugging percentage over the past 28 days. By comparison, Babe Ruth‘s career slugging percentage was .690.

With Parker making opposing hitters look like The Great Bambino lately, it adds another layer of crisis to a bullpen that’s veering dangerously close to code red. As of now, the Twins have only signed a developmental reliever to add depth to the relief arsenal, but there’s still plenty of time to make a move. Then again, it’s pretty clear that the Twins need to at least do something.

UP: Mitch Garver

Just like his teammate Nelson Cruz, many wouldn’t have blamed Mitch Garver if he needed some time to get back in the swing of things coming off the injured list. Instead of going through a post ankle injury slump, Garver has picked up where he has left off and is starting to blossom into one of the best hitting catchers in the game.

Since returning from his injury on June 2, Garver has compiled a slash line of .286/.359/.514 with two home runs and nine RBI. To add to the recent performance, Garver currently has a WAR of 2.0 this season, which would lead Major League Baseball among catchers if he qualified right now (something that would happen if he didn’t miss time with the previously mentioned ankle injury).

On a weekend where the Twins honored one of the greatest hitting catchers of all-time, Garver stepped up his game last week and clocked a two-run, go-ahead home run in the eighth inning of a 2-0 win over the Royals on Friday night. It’s unlikely that Garver will win a MVP award like Mauer did, but he’s putting on a show and becoming a major presence in the middle of the Twins’ lineup.

DOWN: Fernando Romero

Remember how weird it was when the Twins announced that Fernando Romero wasn’t going to be in the rotation? When the Twins had made that announcement last January, it was a bizarre situation where many felt he was a better option than Michael Pineda or Martin Perez to man down a spot toward the back of the rotation.

Fast forward six months later and it’s apparent that Romero has a lot of work to do just to become a major league pitcher.

Romero’s latest stint came this week when he was called up prior to the Thursday afternoon matchup with the Mariners. In his second call-up with the team, Romero bombed for the second time, coming into Thursday’s game and failing to retire a batter. On the season, Romero has thrown eight innings where he has allowed seven earned runs and owns a WHIP of 2.12.

Things haven’t gotten much better at the minor league level for Romero as he’s logged 24.2 innings and compiled a 5.47 ERA, but a better 1.25 WHIP at Triple-A Rochester. So, what on earth is going on with Romero?

The good news here is that we know the talent is there and the lefty is still only 24 years old. The bad news is that the Twins bullpen needs help and it would help to have an electric arm like Romero’s out there, especially in late game situations. As it stands now, that appears to be a pipe dream and the best case scenario may be that Romero figures things out and is ready to roll in 2020.

UP: Willians Astudillo

Sometimes when a player gets sent down to the minor leagues, they start to get down on themselves and perform even worse at the Triple-A level. While that may be the case for some, that has not been the case for Willians Astudillo.

The Twins catcher was sent down prior to the series finale in Detroit last week, but has responded by tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A Rochester. In six games with the Red Wings, Astudillo has gone 15-for-26 (.600) with three home runs and nine RBI. What’s even more insane is his .960 slugging percentage which means he’s averaging nearly a base every time he steps up to the plate.

Yes, this is an extremely small sample size, but one that is also encouraging considering Astudillo’s struggles at the plate before being sent down. It’s clear that “La Tortuga” wants to get back to the Twins as soon as possible, but there may not be room with a bullpen that has struggled and a catching situation that features the red hot Garver and Jason Castro.

Regardless, Astudillo’s versatility could lead him back to Minnesota if the Twins see an injury and it appears that when that call comes, the 27-year old will be ready for another opportunity.